


The Waiting Game

by olivemartini



Series: the heavy hearts we hold together [13]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, that episode where Morgan gets captured
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 11:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11577255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: She's still part of the team, but this is different, where she has to wait at home with her ears on the news and one hand clutching to her phone, waiting for a call she's not sure she wants to get.





	The Waiting Game

She had known what it was to be part of the team.

Now Beatrice knows it in a different way, in the kind that makes her sit in an arm chair with a blanket wrapped tight around her shoulders, ears on the news and one hand clutching her phone, waiting for a call she's not sure she wants to get.  She'd spent long nights like this before, where her friends were in the hospital and she had been sent home to steal a few hours of sleep that would never come, or days where she tried to pretend everything was normal when people she loved were in very immediate danger.  

It still isn't a good feeling.

 

 

"He's going to be okay."  

She's not sure why she was here, or if she was even allowed, but Garcia had called her and said that  _Morgan was in trouble, I need an extra pair of hands and you're better than Kevin, how fast can you get here._ So Beatrice had thrown on an outfit that definitely wasn't FBI approved, but considering she was going to use a outdated (not to mention slightly illegal) security clearance card to get there, that wasn't what she had to be worried about.  

"I know he is."  Garcia wasn't looking at her, fingers moving lightning fast across the keyboard, trying to find a connection that wasn't there.  "But we need to find him, and I can't find him, because the computer can't find him, and that's all I do, Bea, all I do is work with what the computers give me."

"Hey."  Beatrice crouched in front of her, looked her in the eye until her breathing went back to normal.  "You're not alone in this.  And neither is Derek."  She pulls Garcia's chair back so she can move in front of the computer, eyes scanning what was on the screen.  "Let me take a look."

 

 

_Still no sign._

_The coffee here is horrible._

_I'm glad you're safe._

_What do you mean you're with Garcia?  That's not agency protocol._

_I'm getting worried about him._

_I can't stop replaying all the statistics and facts in my head, and it's not painting a pretty picture.  I wish you were here to give me a new one._

_I really miss you._

_I wish you were here, but I'm glad you're not._

The texts kept rolling in, each time that Spencer took a break to walk away and clear his head.  He had told her in the beginning not to reply, that he would call when he could, and for now all she got were these brief updates.  And every time her phone buzzes, her heart sinks and leaps at the same time, and Garcia looks over at her like her world is about to end, like just now.

_He's my best friend, you know?  And I can't help him._

If they're funny, she shows them to Garcia to help lighten the mood.  To give her some hope.  She doesn't show her this one, just shakes her head and pockets her phone.  "Not yet."

 

 

They do find him.

They find him, and they save him, and they take him to the hospital.  "We're going."  Garcia says, already in motion, grabbing her phone and keys and what must be her fifth cup of coffee.  Beatrice is surprised she isn't vibrating with all the caffeine.  "We're going right now."

"I'm driving."  Beatrice snatches the keys out of her hand.  "Go get Savvanah."

 

 

It had been a long ride, with Garcia in the back shouting directions and updates on traffic, Savannah staring out the window with steely eyes and set jaw, one hand resting on her stomach, and Beatrice with her hands tense on the steering wheel, driving way too fast but somehow not fast enough.  She pulls up to the drop off zone with a screech, unlocking the doors to let the other two out.  "Listen."  She grabs at Savannah's hand before she can leave.  "He's going to be fine."

Fine being a relative term, she reminds herself, as she's walking through the dark parking lot, dashing from one lighted area to another, her pepper spray held tight and at the ready.  But then she walks through the automatic doors and finds where the team is waiting, the smell of the antiseptic and the bright lights shocking her senses, and she thinks that yes, everything really is going to be fine.

"He's okay."  Reid says, burying his face in her neck and choking out a relieved laugh.  His eyes are wet, but she doesn't care, just kisses him fast in front of everyone, suddenly not caring about whether its appropriate.  Spencer is here, and Morgan is going to be fine, and they're all together and somewhat happy, so she'd kiss the man she wants to kiss if she decides too.  "Everything's going to be okay."

"Of course he is."  She brushes Reid's hair out of his eyes, reminded of the need for him to get a hair cut.  "I told you he would be."

 

 

It's a long night spent in uncomfortable chair with crappy hospital food, all of them revolving in and out of Morgan's room.  

Beatrice goes last, a few hours after he woke up.  He's smiling, one hand holding onto Savanahh's, who is slumped over in the chair, asleep.  She stands and stares at him for a moment, paralyzed, and is horrified to find that she is crying.  "I'm sorry,"  She chokes out, sinking down into the other chair and laughing through her tears.  "I was just really worried about you."

"Me too, kid."  He shifts where he's sitting, giving her a glimpse of all the tubes and wires he had stuck him with.  "Reid told me the two of you finally got your act together."

Beatrice tilted her head back and laughed, because  _of course_ that's what he wanted to talk about.  "Yeah."  She's giddy and blushing, but she doesn't care, because Spencer likes her and Morgan is alive and everything is going to be okay.  "Yeah, we're together now.  Dating, or something, I don't know."

Morgan laughs like it hurts him too, then sobers.  "You'll take care of him, won't you?"  He's not telling her something, but she can hear it all the same:  _because I won't be able to._

Beatrice leans over him to give him a hug, and it's safe and familiar.  "Of course I will."

 

 

"You ready to go home?"

Spencer has his bag hitched over his shoulder, waiting beside her as they say their good byes to the team.   _Home,_ where they were both going to go together, because neither of them had even thought that the other might want something different.

"Yeah."  She takes his hand in hers. "Let's go home."


End file.
